I’d be interested in an interview. E:D is my first game in the Elite series, but I’m no stranger to space sims. Plus, I’m an American, and the Elite series never got much notice over here, so when I started up I had no idea it was so instrumental in the birth of the Space Sim Genre.

The first I heard of the game and series was just shortly after launch. I would welcome a chat. Have played as many space Sims as I could find since I was little and absolutely jazzed when I saw this game.

More than happy; add ‘Koorah’ on Skype. I played Elite on my BBCB back in the day. Since then I played Freespace, Wing Commander, Freelancer, Homeworld and X3 as well as others. Due to RL commitments I only get to play once a week but unlike other MMO’s I think Elite is something that can work with that timeframe.

E:D is my first Elite game, I know basically nothing of the lore, the factions, etc. I am no stranger to “Space games” though; I grew up having a lot of fun playing X-Wing, TIE-FIghter, Wing Commander, X Beyond the Frontier, Independence War 1/2, Freelancer, and the FreeSpace series, with FreeSpace 2 being my personal gold standard for what makes a great space combat game.

I deliberately use the term “Space combat game” and not “space sim” to put an emphasis on the elements I enjoyed most about those games: Intense combat, well structured and tactical missions, a sometimes a bit cheesy but in general well written story and universe, and a solid multiplayer component. What sold me on E:D is the “Damocles Trailer”, and if I had not already been a beta player at that point the much shunned/mocked Release Trailer would definitely have sparked my interest (despite not being a 12yo Call of Duty player that, according to a lot of Elite veterans on the web, it was apparently aimed at).

With that background information you might already guess a lot of the points of the current state of E:D that I’m not very happy with. I knew from the start that I would not get the fast-paced and narrative-driven experience I loved in FreeSpace & Co., But I had hoped for a lot more variety in terms of things you can do, ways to meaningfully interact with the universe and other players, a universe that is less sterile and empty.

I am certainly part of the “a kilometer wide, a centimeter deep” crowd (suck it, imperials)

I can appreciate the “immersive qualities” of the game – I’ve had my fair share of “Wow, I’m in fucking SPACE!” moments – but the novelty wore off fast for me. (Maybe it would be a lot different with a HOTAS setup and an Occulus Rift, I’ve seen people streaming basically 2 hours of not much more than turning their heads around and going “whoooaaaa this is awesome!”). There sadly is a lot lacking on the “game qualities” side of things in my opinion. Mission design, ship and loadout variety (more sidegrades, less streight up ‘bigger-is-better’ progression), less “grind” and more “achieving”, believable NPCs and writing (“You die now, victim!” really?).

I’ve tried all the obvious careers (sans PvP pirating): Mission running, trading, exploring, mining, and bounty hunting. Bounty hunting was the one that kept me going for the longest time – it was the closed thing to the space combat games I grew up loving. A while ago I reached a point where even that became quite boring, and the huge gap between my credit balance and the price of the next bigger ship I had my sights on just would not seem to get smaller. I set out to see what could be done with the – frankly quite lacking – player to player interaction capabilities of the game, which lead me to become a quiz master (see: http://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDangerous/comments/2tek32/my_shortlived_career_as_a_gameshow_host_in_space/) – which brings its own set of frustrations. Seriously, it’s 2015 and this game sometimes can’t even send a simple text message from one player to another?! And don’t get me started on problems establishing voice comms…

I still haven’t given up on E:D, not quite sure if it’s a form of stockholm syndrome at this point though, or simply the lack of other games to sink my time into. I do hope that at some point I will be able to play what the Damocles trailer promised, that we will see battles that have a structure, a clear beginning and end, and actual consequences – not just endless waves of fighters duking it out for 10 days straight.

As is stands now though I’m not really “playing” E:D. It’s become a sort of background interaction while listening to podcasts, chatting with friends, or catching up on tv series – interrupted by the occasional brave pilot that wants to prove his sci-fi knowledge in my quiz (which are interactions that I wholly enjoy).

Hi,
I am new to the game, and I have only been playing since late Beta. Around October or November of last year. I really like this game. I am currently exploring and just pushing out as far as I can given that I do not have the best kit at this time. So I explore a little, come back sell data, do some up grades… rinse, and repeat. I started exploring in a Hauler, if you can imagine, and now I am using and Adder, in hopes to raise the money to someday be in a “suped up” Asp.

I played EVE online a lot, and as much as I loved that game it always fell a bit short. I’d re-sub for a bit, play a while, and then lose interest and un-sub again. I had been doing this for years. It was great, but it always lacked a bit of something that I couldn’t place until i started playing Elite. Playing in Eve felt like I was bound to play in a galaxy that always belonged to someone else. In Elite I feel like I finally have a chance to make my own way, write my own narrative, and not be beholden to a deficit of skill points I can never make up.

The bloom has not yet come off the rose as it were with elite, and I am loving it.. I also really dig the podcast. And all the efforts made by the community thus far. I am glad I found this game, and this group, maybe a bit late, but as they say better late then never.
out of game: Wil Smyth,
In game: CMDR. George Kirby,

Awesome idea fella’s…
I so regret not getting in on the Beta… 🙁
E:D is an amazingly good homage to my favorite; E:D has done the same as Frontier Elite II did back in the day… Knock my socks off. Amazing visuals… Same impressiveness… I am eagerly awaiting my Imperial Courier.. In the meantime i will kill me some pirates and Fed’s…

(Tuesday’s at 8:30pm GMT)… is lunchtime here in Canada on the west-coast.. Unfortunately i am unavailable…

Before Elite I had tried to play the X series and Eve Online but both failed to keep my interest. I always liked the idea but it never quite clicked for me.

I got Elite: Dangerous three weeks ago looking for something to while away a lazy weekend, and my first impression was that the thing was huge. Unlike X, though, it seemed much more approachable. I flailed around ineptly to begin with, but three weeks on I’m still playing every chance I get.

I’ve been surprised by how much fun it is just to fly and exist in the space. The community is also wonderful (I’ve been working my way back through the Lave Radio podcasts and you guys are great). Trading has also been a lot of fun – though more fun for me since I decided to stop using online tools and do it myself. Profits have dropped sharply, but satisfaction has hugely increased!

If I have any criticism at the moment it is that there doesn’t seem to be a high-level game for combat and exploration support. All the big ships feel like they can only really be used for trading and obtained through trading because there aren’t ways to ramp up your income via combat or exploration, and if you do trade to get up to a big Anaconda of your own… you’ll need to trade to support it every time it gets scratched up in a fight.

I’m hoping Wings will come with an expanded mission structure down the line to put big money in reach of combat pilots, and I think the naming potential on planets is going to make exploration much more compelling. But despite my misgivings about those areas, I’ve geared up a Cobra for trading and fighting, and once I’ve got the cash (hopefully after this weekend), I’ll be sticking a surface scanner on it too, so all the aspects of the game are clearly doing something right!

I am a very new player, in fact I bought in Friday night and played through the weekend. I am much more interested in the trading/exploring aspects of the game. I enjoyed Eve until I was forced to join a corporation to progress – I prefer to play in small groups or solo. I played X2, X3 – Albion and X Rebirth (Although very little since that game is ugly as sin).

I like Elite, I haven’t sat and played a game for so many hours in a row in a long time. That said the game feels incomplete, almost like a Early Access. The game just needs more content and I think it would be excellent. As it stands I wouldn’t recommend buying in just yet, give them a few more months to fill up the universe a bit.

In the mean time I’ll carry on playing on and off and seek my fortunes.

I got the original elite back in ’84 for the Spectrum 48+, I rememebr that I got to Dangerous, plus I did the rescue purple from the supernova mission and get 100g of gemstones, flew all 8 galaxies and wychspace Thargon bashing. I played a little on Elite II on the Amiga but was not too sold on it. But, I am loving ED and happy with the new elite system that traders and explorers are honoured too.